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International Journal of Research in Social Sciences Vol. 9 Issue 6, June 2019, ISSN: 2249-2496 Impact Factor: 7.081 Journal Homepage: http://www.ijmra.us, Email: [email protected] Double-Blind Peer Reviewed Refereed Open Access International Journal - Included in the International Serial Directories Indexed & Listed at: Ulrich's Periodicals Directory ©, U.S.A., Open J-Gage as well as in Cabell‟s Directories of Publishing Opportunities, U.S.A A Critical Analysis Of Trends In Gender Wage Gap – A Case Study Of India (2010-2018) Muskan Jain* Abstract Evidence from across the country i.e. different states suggests that there exists gender disparity in the wages paid for a job of the same nature as well as in a job of Keywords: different nature but amounting to equal value. This paper Gender disparity is an attempt to study the general difference in the wages Discrimination of male and female in India. The paper tries to analyze Wage gap the main reasons that lead to low wages for women in India. By combining the facts from the present scenario with the literature, paper studies the government policies which are helpful in reducing the gender wage gap in India. The research is done by using the secondary data from NSSo surveys, ILo surveys, gender gap reports, UNDP report etc. * Amity University, Sector-125,Noida 395 International Journal of Research in Social Sciences http://www.ijmra.us, Email: [email protected] ISSN: 2249-2496 Impact Factor: 7.081 1. Introduction Evidence from across the country i.e. different states suggests that there exists gender disparity in the wages paid for a job of the same nature as well as in a job of different nature but amounting to equal value. In today‟s world in almost all the fields, men and women work together therefore the concern of fair and equal treatment in the working environment is of utmost importance. Gender inequality at work place is one of the issues that has often been raised and debated.There is a major violation of the principle of the decent works as the gender pay gap exists in the country and also violates the human rights. As in developing countries women are considered inferior to men and also lack access to similar economic opportunities therefore gender wage differentials become an important concern for the country. Not only different wage rates but women also suffer from unequal access to wage employment. Women are continued to be treated as a source of cheap and secondary labour who are hired and fired to suit the requirements of the employer. The development of nation has been directly related to women development after independence as women play a very important role in the economic development of the country. Even after the formation of many important acts that guarantee women equal wages as that of men in the country like equal remuneration act women labour is still paid less than the male workers and this continues even for the similar work. India ranks 142nd out of 149 countries as per the WEF's Global Gender Gap Report 2018 in the economic opportunity and participation sub-index while it has faced may challenges. So it is an important question that, can the country achieve the goal of becoming the next superpower without empowering half of its population?”” Erin K. Fletcher, Rohini Pande, and Charity Troyer Moore (December 2o17) in “Women and Work in India: Descriptive Evidence and a Review of Potential Policies” use nationally representative household survey and use five descriptive facts about female labor force participation in India that help in identifying constraints of higher participation. ocuses on five facts that is there is demand for jobs by women but it is currently not in the labor force, females who want to work but are not getting job have some difficulty with matching to the jobs, getting vocational training is also correlated with the likelihood of working among women, women more 396 International Journal of Research in Social Sciences http://www.ijmra.us, Email: [email protected] ISSN: 2249-2496 Impact Factor: 7.081 likely work in those sectors where the gender wage gap as well as unexplained gap is much higher and female-friendly policies are correlated with higher female participation in some key sectors. Yaveline Aly (21, Dec, 2o17) in “The Gender Wage Gap: Causes, Consequences, and Remedies” tries to explain the main causes, consequences and remedies of the gender wage gap. This Research aims to explore perceptions of the employees working in industries about the gender wage gap. Paper explains that the gender wage gap is unadjusted difference between median earning of men and women relative to median earnings of men. “”Meenal M and S Senthil Ganesh (2o16) in “Gender based pay disparity – Myth or reality? Evidence from Indian IT Services firms” aim at analyzing if gender disparity exists in Indian IT firms. By using compensation disclosure practice it analyzes the various determinants of differentials in the Indian IT services firms. To analyze the various factors that lead to pay disparity across the IT industry and within the selected firms Linear Regression is used. The analysis concludes that there is no kind of gender based pay disparity within the Indian IT industry. However it states that it exists when we take a closer look to each gender. 2. Research Method For the given study secondary data has been used to analyze the extent of gender disparity in wages across the country and the time period selected is 2010-2018. The data has been collected from, NSSO surveys, ILO surveys, gender gap reports, UNDP report etc. The research done is purely descriptive. Objectives of the study 1. To study the general difference in the wages of male and female in India 2. To study main reasons that lead to low wages for women. 3. To study the government Initiatives to reduce gender wage gap in India 397 International Journal of Research in Social Sciences http://www.ijmra.us, Email: [email protected] ISSN: 2249-2496 Impact Factor: 7.081 3. Results and Analysis 3.1. Gender pay gap in India Gender inequality when talked about in wages it means the difference in the wages of women and men in the paid employment as well as in the labor market. As per the World Economic Forum (WEF)s Global Gender Gap Report 2018 which was released on Tuesday reveals that India ranks 108 out of 149 countries in overall gender gap index as well as 142nd out of 149 countries in the economic opportunity and participation sub index. The women‟s labour market participation is compared to that of male workers in order to understand or examine gender inequalities in wages and incomes. The widespread spectrum and nature of women‟s work is defined by the difficulties which are associated with recognising women‟s contribution to economic activities as well as their participation in labour market activities. Table- 1: Global gender gap score- Economic participation and opportunity YEAR ECoNoMIC PARTICIPATION AND OPPORTUNITY 2010 0.403 2011 0.396 2012 0.459 2013 0.446 2014 0.410 2015 0.383 2016 0.408 2017 0.376 2018 0.385 0.00= Inequality, 1.00= Equality Source- ILO Stat From the year 2010 to 2018 and it can be easily seen that over the years Economic participation and opportunity has not improved as well as India ranks 142nd out of 149 countries in the economic opportunity and participation sub index. 398 International Journal of Research in Social Sciences http://www.ijmra.us, Email: [email protected] ISSN: 2249-2496 Impact Factor: 7.081 Table-2: Labour Force Participation (Age 15- 64) % YEAR Female Male F/M 2010 35 85 0.42 2011 35 85 0.42 2012 35 85 0.42 2013 30 83 0.36 2014 30 84 0.36 2015 29 83 0.35 2016 28 82 0.34 2017 28.5 82 0.35 2018 28.7 81.7 0.35 (Doesn‟t include the workers employed abroad) 0.00= Inequality, 1.00= Equality Source- ILo Stat It increased from 2010 to 2012 but after 2012 it started decreasing. The female to male labour force participation was 0.42 in 2010 which decreased to 0.35 in 2018. Therefore it can easily be interpreted from the above table that inequality has increased that is male labour force is more than female labour force in India. Table-3: Estimated earned Income (PPP, US $) Female Male 2010 1304 4102 2011 1518 4960 2012 1530 5635 2013 1628 5974 2014 1980 8087 2015 2257 9175 2016 2103 9045 2017 2424 10428 2018 2602 11195 Source- United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)s Human Development Report 399 International Journal of Research in Social Sciences http://www.ijmra.us, Email: [email protected] ISSN: 2249-2496 Impact Factor: 7.081 It shows that income has increased both for men and women over years but the pace at which it is increasing for men is much higher than that for women. Table-4: % of Female Employment Year Agriculture Industry Services 2010 66.74 15.677 17.574 2011 62.87 17.605 19.52 2012 59.701 18.96 21.339 2013 59.583 18.192 22.225 2014 58.725 18.14 23.135 2015 57.735 18.005 24.26 2016 56.916 17.7 25.384 2017 56.35 17.69 25.943 2018 55.38 17.67 26.952 The data shows that from 2010 to 208 the female employment in agriculture has reduced over the years while in industries and services it has increased.